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786 Naval Air Squadron

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Defunct flying squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm

Infobox 786 Naval Air Squadron
Fairey Barracuda Mk II an example of the type used by 786 NAS
Active4 November 1940 - 21 December 1945
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy
TypeFleet Air Arm Second Line Squadron
RoleTorpedo Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron
SizeSquadron
Part ofFleet Air Arm
Home stationRNAS Crail (HMS Jackdaw)
Insignia
Identification Markingsinitially individual letters
C1A+ to C7A+ (1943 - 1945)
Aircraft flown
Attack
TrainerAvro Anson
Military unit

786 Naval Air Squadron (786 NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN) which last disbanded in late 1945, absorbed by 785 Naval Air Squadron. 786 NAS formed at HMS Jackdaw, RNAS Crail, in November 1940, as a Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance squadron. It operated a few different types of torpedo bomber aircraft, initially equipped with Fairey Albacore and shortly afterwards joined by Fairey Swordfish, these aircraft were replaced by Fairey Barracuda at the of 1942.

History

Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron (1940–1945)

Fairey Swordfish I

786 Naval Air Squadron formed as a Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance squadron at RNAS Crail (HMS Jackdaw), in Fife, Scotland, on 4 November 1940, out of the naval element of the Torpedo Training Unit RAF, from RAF Abbotsinch, in Renfrewshire. It was initially equipped with nine Fairey Albacore, a British biplane torpedo bomber, which was later augmented with Fairey Swordfish, also a British biplane torpedo bomber. In December 1942 the squadron started to receive Fairey Barracuda, a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber, and over the next month these replaced the Fairey Swordfish and Fairey Albacore aircraft. At the end of summer during 1944 the squadron received a number of Avro Anson, a multirole aircraft, which were fitted out as air-to-surface-vessel (ASV) radar ‘classroom’ trainer aircraft. 786 Naval Air Squadron disbanded into 785 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Crail (HMS Jackdaw), on 21 December 1945.

Aircraft operated

The squadron operated a number of different aircraft types, including:

Naval air stations

786 Naval Air Squadron operated from a single naval air station of the Royal Navy, in Scotland:

Commanding officers

List of commanding officers of 786 Naval Air Squadron with date of appointment:

  • Captain F.W. Brown, RM, from 6 December 1940
  • Lieutenant(A) S. Keane, RN, from 28 July 1941
  • Lieutenant R.W. Little, RN, from November 1941
  • Lieutenant R.C.B. Stallard-Peyre, RN, from 23 February 1942
  • Lieutenant Commander B.E. Boulding, DSC, RN, from 15 October 1942
  • Lieutenant Commander D. Norcock, RN, from 10 August 1943
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) R.J. Fisher, RNZNVR, from 30 June 1944
  • Lieutenant Commander(A) F.H. Franklin, RNVR, from 30 October 1944
  • Lieutenant Commander L.C. Watson, DSC, RN, from 13 June 1945
  • disbanded - 21 December 1945

References

Citations

  1. Sturtivant, Ballance 1994, p. 108.
  2. ^ Wragg 2019, p. 135.
  3. ^ Ballance, Howard & Sturtivant 2016, p. 88.

Bibliography

Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons
Active
Flying
Non-flying
Display team
Inactive
Squadrons
Display teams
Units in underline subsequently commissioned into Royal Australian Navy Fleet Air Arm
Units in italics subsequently commissioned into Netherlands Naval Aviation Service
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